Thursday, July 30, 2009

After a hamster dies, should I clean the cage?

I have two hamsters and they both live in the same cage; I found one of them to have died recently and want to know if it would be a good idea to clean the cage now.
I'd rather not the other one become ill, either.
Answers:
It is a good idea to clean out the cage with a diluted bleach solution. Bleach is the safest cleaner as it leaves no residue or chemicals after it has air dried. Be sure to allow the cage and all toys, etc to air dry.
You also need to keep a close eye on the remaining hamster. If they were living together the other one may have what the first one did. Watch for lethargy, decreased appetite, etc.
Yea if you do not want the other hamster to die I would clean it out as soon as possible and take the other one to the vet and have it checked out make sure that it is not ill either.
I think you should do an extremely thorough cleaning, possibly even more thorough than you regular maintenance cleaning. If the hamster that died had a disease of some sort, it's best to do everything you can so that the other doesn't catch it. Chances are, living in such close quarters that if the one who passed away had a disease the other may already have it, but I think it's best to do everything you possibly can to prevent it, if it hasn't happened. Hopefully the other little guy just died of old age.
Sorry about your little friend.
Absolutely. A very thorough cleaning too. The smell of the other dead hamster may confuse and alarm the remaining.
I can't tell from your post if it was old age your hammie died of, or if it was something sudden--either way, you need to give it a good scrub, new bedding, new food --and if the other WAS sick, the answerer's suggestion to take the still living hammie to a vet is also good.
I'm very sorry for your loss, and wish you the best!
You should clean the cage. And after you clean it, be careful of what the remaining hamster comes in contact with that includes food, water, and his or her living environment. Regular maintenance is important of all those things is important. Sorry about your hamster I hope the other one will be fine.
It matters how the hamster died. If it died from illness then clean the cage as soon as possible. I would use a lot of soap. If it was old age then just clean on schedule.
It would be safe to do so just in case:)
yes, that is very sensible of you to think to do that. Whenever an animal dies it is very important as it could have left traces of infections or diseases for your other hamster to catch.
Make sure you thouroghly clean and disifect the cage out as soon as possible.
Sorry to hear one of your hamsters died though, whether a pet is big or small its very upsetting when this happens.
it's a good Idea to replace all the bedding too.
but, it probably won't make much of a difference.
you know that Sirian hampsters can't be caged together right?
if your hamsters were syrian then you can safely assume that it has died in a fight, it wouldn't really be necessary to clean the cage, though it would be a good Idea to clean the scent.
ABSOLUTELY! The hamster may have carried a disease in which could have exited the body when they went "potty". Clean it throughly,-esspecially if you plan to put other animals in that cage.
yes yes yes! good god yes! clean it!
Yeah, you should. It wouldn't hurt only benefit.
yes if you plan on using it again.

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